The Stiletto

Fugitive was out of gas and out of luck after calling the sheriff for help

The Stiletto — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:03:14 GMT

NOT THE SHARPEST KNIFE IN THE DRAWER: When Richard Vincent, who had given his parole officer the slip in GA, ran out of gas in Uinta County, WY – AKA “The Middle Of Nowhere” – he called the local Sheriff's Office for help. The call was transferred to the WY Highway Patrol, and as two troopers were making their way to Vincent's location near the WY-UT border they learned that the 59-year-old was a fugitive who had an outstanding felony warrant on a murder and escape conviction. Vincent is now in custody awaiting extradition to GA.

An economist’s cost-benefit analysis of love

The Stiletto — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:00:31 GMT

ON THE CUTTING EDGE: Economist Elizabeth Fosslien’s charts prove that love can be quantified. These are The Stiletto’s two faves:

Hitting a fashion show? Crazy heels required

The Stiletto — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:55:49 GMT

IF THE SHOE FITS: Hitting a fashion show? Crazy heels required

- The Associated Press, February 14, 2012

Capitol Assets: Some legislators send millions to groups connected to their relatives

The Stiletto — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:54:52 GMT

PENETRATING INSIGHTS: Capitol Assets: Some legislators send millions to groups connected to their relatives

- The Washington Post, February 7, 2012

Jurist’s groping defense: “I was too drunk to remember what happened”

The Stiletto — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:53:58 GMT

WHAT A HEEL: Ocean County (NJ) Superior Court Judge Marquis Jones, who presides over family court cases, has been accused of violating judicial ethics for (allegedly) touching several female probation officers inappropriately and making sexually suggestive remarks to them during a holiday party in December 2010 hosted by the Ocean County chapter of the New Jersey Probation Association, the union for probation officers, New Jersey Law Journal reports:

Jones claims to have no recollection of the touching or comments but says he "does not question the perceptions" of his accusers and has "no present intention to require their personal appearance and testimony in this matter."

He also states that if he was inappropriate, "it was perhaps the result of having a little too much to drink, in the Holiday spirit." …

Emphasizing that the alleged actions were not intentional, Jones says he nevertheless "takes full responsibility for them," acknowledges they would violate the Code of Judicial Conduct and "submits himself to the recommendations of the [Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct] for whatever action it deems appropriate in this matters."

The ACJC accuses Jones of violating Canon 1 of the code, which requires judges to observe high standards of conduct, and Canon 2A, which requires them to act in a way that promotes public confidence in the judiciary's integrity and impartiality.

It claims that Jones' alleged touching and comments at the party were "offensive and created discomfort and embarrassment," and that he showed poor judgment, disrespect for the judiciary and an inability to abide by the standards of behavior expected of judges. …

Other judges found to have touched court employees inappropriately have received a suspension or reprimand.

Madonna makes Israelis meshuggah

The Stiletto — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:06:57 GMT

NOT THE SHARPEST KNIVES IN THE DRAWER: Israeli Madonna fans are verklempt over the thought that their government may attack Iran just when the superstar shiksa is scheduled to give a concert in Tel Aviv on May 29^th, and have launched a Facebook page to convince Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off any such plans, Haaretz reports:

While the, currently relatively unpopulated, Facebook page could seem like a case of dealing with trivialities in the face of all-out war with Iran," Israeli Madonna fans' fears are not unsubstantiated, with a distinguished list of artists bailing out on Israeli shows in the last minute over political crises and wars.

This “distinguished list of artists” who turned their backs on Israel while it was defending itself against existential threats includes Cat Power ("Due to much confusion in my soul, playing for my Israeli fans with such unrest between Israel and Palestine I can't play, as I feel sick in my spirit."); Depeche Mode (during the Second Lebanon War); Red Hot Chili Peppers' (during the Second Intifada); and The Pixies (after the IDF's raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla during which nine Turkish activists were killed).

Doesn’t it just make you kvell knowing that some schmegeggy Israelis have the chutzpah to reward feckless pop stars with their shekels rather than giving them bupkis?

Dealing with head lice

The Stiletto — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:18:37 GMT

IF THE SHOE FITS: Dealing with head lice

- HealthDay News, February 5, 2012

Football findings suggest concussions caused by series of hits

The Stiletto — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:16:09 GMT

PENETRATING INSIGHTS: Football findings suggest concussions caused by series of hits

- ScienceDaily via OpinionJournal.com, February 6, 2012

Woman who sold fake Facebook stock is unliked and in jail

The Stiletto — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:04:45 GMT

WHAT A HEEL: Marianne Oleson of Oshkosh, WI, has been charged with 31 counts of theft, forgery and making misleading statements for (allegedly) selling fake stock in Facebook to five or more people, Reuters reports:

Oleson told acquaintances she obtained $1 million in stock because her daughter was an acquaintance of Facebook's founder, and persuaded several people to buy fictitious Facebook stock over a four-month period. …

The complaint against Oleson said one of the people to whom she was accused of selling fake stock was a contractor who did work at her house in September. Oleson paid the contractor for the work with $13,980 worth of fake Facebook stock, the complaint alleged.

The contractor, who also paid $10,000 in cash to the woman for additional stock, grew suspicious when he found she lied about her name and various oddities on documents referring to the transaction, the complaint said.

Oleson is in custody on a $50,000 cash bond.

A current events round-up for conservatives

The Stiletto — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:15:00 GMT

THE OTHER SHOE DROPS: Turning back the tide of information overload with a digest of the latest developments in news conservatives need to pay attention to:

† Romney and Gingrich get Rick-rolled: Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum (R-PA) has raised $1 million in the days since winning the trifecta in CO, MN and MO Tuesday night, The Daily Beast reports:

Eighty percent of the money was from online donations – which even crashed the website. … While this sum is still far behind Mitt Romney’s numbers, it’s a sign that Santorum may be gaining momentum.

The Washington Times makes the case that Mitt Romney is losing momentum:

In all three states Mr. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, won fewer voters than he did in 2008, signaling that he hasn't been able to hold onto those who turned out to pull the lever for him last time.

In Minnesota in 2008 he won nearly 26,000 voters in the caucuses, while on Tuesday he won fewer than 10,000. In Missouri's primary his take dropped from 172,329 votes to just 63,826. And in Colorado's caucuses he won more than 33,000 votes last time but fell 10,000 votes shy of that this year.

Overall turnout was lower in each of those states, but Mr. Romney can't take solace there – not only does it suggest a drop in enthusiasm from 2008, but Mr. Romney won a smaller share of the total vote in each of the three states this year.

Tuesday also marks the first time Mr. Romney has come in third in any race, as he fell to both Mr. Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, and Texas Rep. Ron Paul in Minnesota's caucuses.

So far, with eight states having voted, Mr. Romney has done worse than his 2008 showing in five of them.

FOX News analyst Juan Williams explains why voters don't like Mitt Romney and why he is proving to be his own worst enemy. Short version: He’s an incredibly tone-deaf, incredibly rich guy who comes off as “an out-of-touch plutocrat who is insensitive to the economic pain being felt by the average American.”

† Nice guys finish last? Maybe not this election cycle. (second item on page): The mittens have been traded in for brass knuckles as former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) and his surrogates began pounding former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) after his stunningly strong showing in Tuesday’s races in CO, MN and MO, CNN reports:

Suddenly facing new questions about the strength of his candidacy, GOP presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney indicated Wednesday he's prepared to wage a more aggressive campaign against Rick Santorum, the surprise winner of all three of Tuesday's Republican contests.

"We think we can beat Sen. Santorum where we compete head-to-head in an aggressive way, and we obviously didn't do that in Colorado or Minnesota to the extent that (Santorum's) campaign did," Romney told reporters. …

Romney also blasted Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, calling them big-spending Washington insiders.

Republicans in Washington have "spent too much, borrowed too much, (and) earmarked too much," he said. "Frankly, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich were a big part."

† The Republican contender who will be Obama II: Timothy Furnish, Ph.D., an expert on Islam, contends that former Gov. Mitt Romney’s (R-MA) position on Islam “is closer to Barack Obama’s than to the mainstream of his own party”:

[I]n Iowa last December … Romney said radical, violent Islamists pose a threat to Americans and others around the world. However, he said, "they take a very different view of Islam than the Muslims I know." He noted that he was raised in the Detroit area, which has a large Muslim population. "They are peace-loving and America-loving individuals. I believe that very sincerely. I believe people of the Islamic faith do not have to subscribe to the idea of radical, violent jihadism" [emphasis added by Furnish]. …

So whence come the Republican front-runner’s “All-American Muslim”-style views? From his own religion, it would seem. …

The clearest and most complete elucidation of the LDS position vis-à-vis Islam can be found in an August 2000 article by James Toronto, entitled “A Latter-day Saint Perspective on Muhammad,” from Ensign – the church’s flagship monthly magazine. … Toronto says that “as early as 1855, at a time when Christian literature generally ridiculed Muhammad as the Antichrist and the archenemy of Western civilization, Elders George A. Smith (1817-75) and Parley P. Pratt (1807-57) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles delivered lengthy sermons demonstrating and accurate and balanced understanding of Islamic history and speaking highly of Muhammad’s leadership.” In fact “Elder Pratt went on to express his admiration for Muhammad’s teachings, asserting that ‘upon the whole … [Muslims] have better morals and better institutions than many Christian nations.’” In this century, the LDS First Presidency Statement of 1978 “specifically mentions Muhammad as one of ‘the great religious leaders of the world’ who received ‘a portion of God’s light” …

Mitt Romney’s church officials are on record as saying that Muhammad – a man who created violent jihad, who had at least 11 wives (one of whom was 9 when he consummated the marriage), who ordered the beheading of an entire Jewish tribe – was illuminated by “God’s light” and was one of the “great religious leaders of the world.” Rather like the situation involving Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright’s church, it beggars imagination that Romney has spent over six decades listening to LDS teachings and has not imbibed at least some measure of such beliefs. …

Would a President Romney, already on record as stating that jihad has nothing to do with Islam, be willing to repeal the Obama administration’s gag order on discussing jihad in counter-terrorism training – even if such honest analysis portrays Muhammad as something other than a shining beacon of virtue and tolerance, as per LDS rubrics?

Lest you think Furnish is being overwrought, consider these remarks by Romney about universal healthcare:

Did you notice in Lebanon, what Hezbollah did? Lebanon became a democracy some time ago and while their government was getting underway, Hezbollah went into southern Lebanon and provided health clinics to some of the people there, and schools. And they built their support there by having done so. That kind of diplomacy is something that would help America become stronger around the world and help people understand that our interest is an interest towards modernity and goodness and freedom for all people in the world. And so, I want to see America carry out that kind of health diplomacy.

[Hat Tip: Pamela Geller]

† Romney: the sequel (click here for related article): President Barack Hussein Obama has found yet another similarity between ObamaCare and RomneyCare that he is more than happy to publicize so as to take it off the table as a campaign issue should he be running against the architect of universal healthcare coverage on the state level, The Washington Times reports:

The White House is pushing back against Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's condemnation of President Obama's recent mandate for insurance coverage of contraceptives as part of the new health-care law.

White House spokesman Jay Carney on Wednesday called Mr. Romney an "odd messenger" to be criticizing Mr. Obama over the issue, considering he followed a similar policy in Massachusetts when Mr. Romney served as governor. …

Mr. Romney said the president's policy amounts to an "assault on religion," and Mr. Carney responded that the former Massachusetts governor's comments were "ironic," considering his tolerance for what he called a virtually "identical" policy in that state.

Romney counters that the contraception provision in the MA healthcare law predates his tenure and that he was unsuccessful in removing it and other healthcare mandates when crafting his own bill. That may be so, but it undermines his claims that he is a leader who can reach across the aisle to get things done.

† A gov’s gotta do what a gov’s gotta do: MI, a state that “experienced an economic downturn earlier, deeper and longer than most of the rest of the country” swung from budget deficits to a $457 million surplus under Gov. Rick Snyder, a first-term Republican, The New York Times reports:

By the close of the state’s 2011 budget year, in September, Michigan had collected $8.8 billion in general fund revenues – more than $1 billion less the amount collected in, say, 2000, but noticeably up from the $7.6 billion in Michigan’s coffers in 2010, thanks to growth in state income and sales tax revenues. Officials are now projecting $632 million more in revenues over the next two years than they had been expecting.

“After a decade of declining revenues, it’s pretty doggone good news,” John E. Nixon, Mr. Snyder’s state budget director, said in an interview. “Things have turned.” …

Mr. Nixon attributed the improved state budget outlook to the state’s broader economic uptick, but also, in part, to tax and policy changes Governor Snyder pressed. The state replaced a business tax with a corporate income tax that is expected to save businesses $1.5 billion a year, though that change did not take effect until January.

To make up lost dollars, lawmakers agreed to tax public workers’ pensions, reduce the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit for the working poor, and remove or reduce other tax exemptions and deductions – moves Mr. Snyder’s critics point to as evidence that even if Michigan’s businesses start feeling better, its ordinary families may feel worse.

“A lot of people want us to backfill the cuts we made last year, and we’re not doing that,” Mr. Nixon said. “We’re not going to have a record recovery here — we’re going to have a long, drawn-out recovery.”

Meanwhile, in neighboring WI, Dems find themselves waging an uphill battle to recall Gov. Scott Walker (R), who has implemented reforms that have “already saved taxpayers tens of millions of dollars and rescued the state from a budget crisis,” The Wall Street Journal reports:

Since last summer, unions have fired every weapon in their arsenal at Mr. Walker and state senators who voted for his collective-bargaining reforms for government workers. Union members must now contribute a very reasonable 5.8% of salary toward pensions and 12.6% toward health insurance, and unions must collect dues from members, rather than having it done by the government. …

In three of the largest school districts—Milwaukee, Kenosha and Janesville—schools had locked themselves into long-term agreements with unions that predated Mr. Walker's reforms. Unable to take advantage of the changes, Milwaukee and Kenosha, which serve more than 100,000 students altogether, saw layoffs of more than 800 teaching positions for the 2011-2012 school year.

By contrast, Madison's school district, the second largest in the state, had no teacher layoffs because it was able to ask employees to make additional contributions toward health care and pensions. …

In mid-December, Wisconsin taxpayers got evidence of the direct benefits of reform in their latest property tax bills – an average annual increase of 0.3%, the smallest since 1996. …

The only loser here are government unions that have less control over state and local politics. With the state no longer automatically withdrawing dues for the unions, labor leaders face the prospect of smaller checkbooks to buy politicians and intimidate reformers.

† College diploma not worth the paper it's written on (related article, second item on the page): A report by the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) finds that an increasing number of college graduates and their parents – who often co-sign loans or take out second mortgages and other loans to cover tuition costs – are finding themselves in bankruptcy court as their “final option to deal with mounting debt,” The Washington Times reports:

Four out of five bankruptcy lawyers reported a “significant” increase in clients seeking help with college loan debt, and 40 percent said such cases have increased by at least 25 percent in just the past three years, the report says.

With college loan debt now surpassing $1 trillion and outpacing credit card debt for the first time in American history, many are beginning to see grim parallels between student borrowing and the subprime mortgage crisis that ultimately derailed the nation’s economy in 2008. …

The average college graduate now owes about $25,000 after school. Nearly 20 percent of parents cosign loans or borrow additional money for their children, and those parents now owe an average of about $34,000, the report says.

While federal loans offer deferment plans and income-based repayment options, private loans do not. They often come with variable interest rates, making it difficult for graduates to get ahead.

In almost all cases, federal and private student loans can’t be discharged through bankruptcy. Graduates can, however, eliminate almost all other debt by declaring bankruptcy, thereby freeing up money to repay the federal government or private lenders.

NACBA is lobbying Congress to pass legislation sponsored by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) to allow student loans to be discharged through bankruptcy.

† Look before you leap: Part II: A day after the VA Legislature passed a bill requiring women to undergo ultrasound imaging before an abortion, the state Senate’s Education and Health Committee deadlocked 7-7 on a "fetal pain" bill that would prohibit abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy in most cases (related article, last item on the page), The Washington Times reports:

Sen. Harry B. Blevins, Virginia Beach Republican, abstained from the vote. …

The abstention of Mr. Blevins, long considered a swing vote on abortion issues, was among the most notable developments from the committee meeting. He voted for the ultrasound bill, saying he thought it important for a mother considering an abortion to have access to an ultrasound imaging.

AL, ID, IN, KS, OK and NE have already passed similar “fetal pain” legislation to ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

† The tale of the ticker tape (last item on the page): It's happened again -- some of the paper tossed out the window during a NYC-style ticker tape parade was unshredded and contained people's confidential medical and/or financial information. Mediaite reports:

[D]uring the Giants’ big celebratory parade on Tuesday, businesses along the route were supplied with confetti to throw out. Unfortunately, some people got overzealous and started throwing out any paper they could find in their office without even shredding it. This meant that documents featuring people’s social security numbers, legal statements, and medical records were gracefully gliding to the ground. …

[I]f you’ve worked with a business along the route of the parade, go to their office and ask for your records. If they can’t retrieve them for you and quickly try to hide the Giants hat they were currently wearing on their head, it might be time for you to change your credit card passwords.

Romney and Gingrich get Rick-rolled

The Stiletto — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:46:00 GMT

THE DAILY BLADE: Rick Santorum’s IA surge turned into a tsunami Tuesday night, as he won three out of three nominating contests by commanding margins that swept away Mitt Romney’s inevitability and Newt Gingrich’s grandiosity. Santorum’s wins will energize his supporters, excite conservatives unable to muster the enthusiasm to vote for Romney and entice donors to funnel much-needed funding to his campaign to keep him competitive in the 10 “Super Tuesday” contests on March 6^th.

Before Santorum up-ended conventional wisdom by winning all three states – Romney was the “prohibitive favorite” – and expectations – Romney was the “presumptive nominee” – The Washington Post downplayed the significance of the elections: The results in MN and CO were nonbinding events; MO wouldn’t be awarding delegates based on the results of the primary (that happens after the caucuses on March 17^th); and MN borders IA, which is the only other state Santorum won “so it’s little harder to argue that this is evidence of Santorum's broader nationwide appeal.”

Well, what a difference a day makes. Now TheWaPo concedes that Santorum’s “massive win” has “cast at least some doubt on Romney’s presumptive nominee status” and “despite being the most inconsequential race of the day when it comes to the GOP delegate race, [MO] may actually have been the most important to the narrative going forward”:

Given his win in the neighboring Iowa caucuses, his strength with Midwestern voters, the low turnout that was expected Tuesday, and the fact that Romney invested basically nothing in the state, it fell to Santorum to pull out a victory to prove he can beat Romney head-to-head. …

At this point in the presidential race, it’s about expectations and momentum. And the perceptions of both have changed post-Missouri at least somewhat.

By winning in Missouri, Santorum proved three things:

1) That Romney can lose

2) That he can beat Romney head-to-head under the right set of circumstances

3) That this race isn’t yet over

Santorum has now won half of the eight primaries and caucuses that have taken place in January and February (IA, MN, MO and CO) – more wins than any of the candidates left in the race; Romney has won three of them (NH, FL and NV). Counting his loss to Gingrich in SC, Romney has lost 5 out of the 8 races.

The Wall Street Journal reports that “[f]our years ago, Mr. Romney carried Colorado with 60% of the vote” but got only 35% this time around and that Santorum's 75,000 vote margin of victory in MO “was nearly 29,000 more than Mr. Romney's combined Iowa and Nevada total”:

While the Tuesday results didn't directly award any of the delegates needed to claim the GOP nomination, they showed voters rejecting Mr. Romney even in states where he had performed well four years ago.

Mr. Romney had carried Minnesota in 2008 but placed third there on Tuesday. With 88% of precincts in, Mr. Santorum had 45% of the vote, while Mr. Paul had 27%. Mr. Romney had 17% of the vote and Mr. Gingrich claimed 11%.

And as The WaPo notes, “Romney enjoyed strong establishment backing in Minnesota, with the vocal support of former governor Tim Pawlenty, yet he trailed not just Santorum but also Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.), finishing a distant third.” Also recall that SC Gov. Nikki Haley (R) threw her support behind Romney, to no avail.

Erick Erickson of RedStateNews asserts that these results show that “the Republican electorate sent a very clear signal – they want conviction over electability”:

They do not like Mitt Romney. They see Santorum as authentic. They see Mitt Romney as a fraud. Rick Santorum swept the races. Romney, the front runner, got crushed by conservatives.

The pattern has held up from Iowa to South Carolina to Florida to Nevada to last night. In every county that saw increased turn out, Not Romney won. In counties with decreased turnout, Romney won most often, but not always.

For his part, Gingrich has won just one out of the eight nominating contests (SC), and came in at a distant second to Romney in FL and NV (46.4% vs. 31.9% and 50.1% vs. 21.1%, respectively). Gingrich wasn’t on the ballot in MO; edged Ron Paul by one point in CO; tied Santorum in NH; and came in dead last in IA and MN, with 88 percent of the precincts reporting.

Moreover, Gingrich trails Santorum in the current delegate count (Romney leads with 86; Santorum has 38; Gingrich has 29; and Paul has just 8) – the three states Santorum won Tuesday will award 128 delegates later this spring). So it will take more chutzpah than even Gingrich can muster to continue to call for Santorum to drop out of the race so he can contest the nomination with Romney RINO- a-RINO.

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat sees Santorum as “a stronger anti-Romney candidate than the combustible and compromised Gingrich, with wider geographic appeal (as he demonstrated last night) and fewer glaring liabilities”:

In the looming Michigan and Arizona primaries, then, the important thing for Santorum is less to beat Romney to get what he got last night: Clear separation from the former Speaker, and enough momentum (a fickle beast, I know) to make him seem like the obvious choice for voters in states like Tennessee and Oklahoma and Georgia who otherwise would have gone for Gingrich.

Expected to do well in his home state of GA and in neighboring TN, Gingrich is concentrating on delegate-rich OH (66) on “Super Tuesday.” But OH borders Santorum’s home state of PA giving Santorum a bit of a home field advantage, and with his wins in MN and MO, he has proven that his message resonates with Midwesterners and may catch on in OH and OK. New York Times blogger and political handicapper Nate Silver’s makes the case that Santorum has “a coherent path to victory … that runs through the Midwest”:

There is a Midwestern state left to vote at virtually every turn of the nomination calendar. After Michigan on Feb. 28 and Ohio on Super Tuesday comes Missouri (again) on March 17, when it holds its caucuses, then Illinois on March 20, Wisconsin on April 3 and Pennsylvania on April 24. (A big disadvantage for Mr. Santorum: He did not qualify for the ballot in Indiana, which votes on May 8.)

Santorum’s social conservatism also plays well in the South, so Gingrich’s campaign may succumb to Santorum’s insurgency on “Super Tuesday.”

As Jonathan Tobin of Commentary magazine points out, “[u]nlike both Romney and Gingrich, Santorum has become a better candidate as the race has gone on”:

Though Romney reaped the benefits of Gingrich’s implosion in the debates before the Florida primary, it was actually Santorum who won those encounters on the issues. Santorum’s appeal to working class voters may appall some conservatives, but it puts him in a good position to exploit Romney’s weaknesses. …

Santorum is still a long way from being considered a likely nominee, but his victories have changed this race from a cakewalk for a Romney to a genuine fight in which the frontrunner is favored but not certain to win. If Romney is to ultimately prevail, he will have to improve his game in the coming weeks and months. If he doesn’t, he may wind up looking back to this past week as the moment he blew the nomination.

Indeed, in his victory speech, Santorum held himself out as the One True Teapublican candidate:

Tonight was a victory for the voices of our party, conservatives and Tea Party people, who are out there every single day in the vineyards building the conservative movement in this country, building the base of the Republican Party, and building a voice for freedom in this land. …

I don't stand here to claim to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama. …

[O]n … health care, the environment, cap-and-trade, and on the Wall Street bailouts, Mitt Romney has the same positions as Barack Obama and, in fact, would not be the best person to get up and fight for your voices for freedom in America.

Santorum also attacked Romney’s purported electability head-on:

Tonight … we had an opportunity to see what a campaign looks like when one candidate isn't outspent 5 or 10 to 1 by negative ads impugning their integrity and distorting their record. This is a more accurate representation, frankly, of what the fall race will look like.

Governor Romney's greatest attribute is, well, I've got the most money and the best organization. Well, he's not going to have the most money and the best organization in the fall, is he?

No, we're going to have to have someone who has other attributes to commend himself to the people of America, someone -- someone who can get up and make sharp contrasts with President Obama, someone who can point to the failed record of this administration and say that Barack Obama needs to be replaced in the Oval Office.

Finally, Santorum out-Gingriched Gingrich and hit all the right notes in his siren song to lure conservatives to his campaign: “we need a president who listens to the American people”; “this is about a country that believes in God-given rights, and a Constitution that is limited to protect those rights”; and “freedom is at stake in this election.”

Nice guys finish last? Maybe not this election cycle.

The WaPo predicts that “the lack of enthusiasm for [Romney’s] candidacy among conservatives foreshadows a potentially ugly road ahead to Tampa and general election problems if he is nominee:

One lesson out of the first eight contests is that, when Romney does not have a built-in advantage, he must rely on negative campaigns to win.

Two of his victories came on friendly turf: New Hampshire, where proximity to Massachusetts helped Romney; and Nevada, where the sizeable Mormon population was a great asset. On more neutral terrain, he owes his success in considerable part to the power of negative campaigning. He almost won Iowa, and came close only after he and the super PAC behind his candidacy spent millions trashing Gingrich with negative ads. His victory in Florida came after another heavy investment in negative ads aimed at the former speaker.

His advisers argue that in Florida, he was the more effective and compelling candidate. But it wasn’t Romney’s positive message that turned the tide in Florida. It was more his strategy of tearing down Gingrich. A Republican strategist, who declined to be identified so that he could offer candid analysis of the race, said of the Romney campaign Wednesday morning that “they have been effective at gaining altitude by disqualifying their opponents.”

Or, as Erick Erickson of RedStateNews puts it: “Romney has nothing to lose and will go negative. He will suddenly become as noxious as his supporters are on twitter and in the Washington Post.”

The Wall Street Journal’s Paul Gigot notes that “Mitt Romney's campaign certainly knows how to pick a target and train its guns in the same direction”:

Having pummeled Newt Gingrich for months, on Monday the Romney camp turned and fired all at once on Rick Santorum, the forgotten man of the GOP race.

A barrage of emails attacked the former Pennsylvania senator as a "leading earmarker" who's not a genuine conservative. Romney surrogate and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty was rolled out in a media conference call to denounce Mr. Santorum for his "long history of pork-barrel spending," including a "polar bear exhibit in Pittsburgh." The Romney campaign's opposition research shop leaves no stone unthrown, however trivial.

But Commentary’s Jonathan Tobin argues that the stones that Romney hurls at Santorum will boomerang on him because “[g]oing negative on Gingrich merely reinforced the public’s doubts of the speaker’s character and record” whereas Santorum “has come across as the nicest guy left in the race”:

[B]y staying out of the Gingrich-Romney mudslinging contest, Santorum has managed to bolster his image. The sympathy that was generated by coverage of his little daughter Bella’s illness also allowed him to carve out a unique niche in the race that put him above the fray in terms of roughhouse presidential politics. …

The spectacle of the frontrunner trying to demolish the character of another conservative rival may not go down well with the GOP grass roots, especially since Santorum has avoided the sort of class warfare and personal attacks that Gingrich launched at Romney.

An assault on Santorum may actually play into his hands since it will make Romney appear like a bully trying to pick on the one candidate who has tried to run a clean campaign.

Vanity plates lead police to bank robber

The Stiletto — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:04:00 GMT

NOT THE SHARPEST KNIFE IN THE DRAWER: A bank robber wearing latex gloves and sunglasses walked up to a teller window at a Chase Bank in San Diego, placed a small container on the counter, pulled out a gun, and demanded cash from the teller and a customer who was in the midst of a transaction, The San Diego Union-Tribune reports:

He left the bank with [$2,920] and got into a white Ford Expedition with a personalized license plate of ALMDUDE. A witness took down the plate information and told police, who found the SUV was registered to 27-year-old Robert Alm.

Alm lived in the SUV until the robbery. Since his arrest on suspicion of bank robbery, he’s been living at the Metropolitan Correctional Center

Is my neck pain serious?

The Stiletto — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:03:00 GMT

IF THE SHOE FITS: Is my neck pain serious?

- HealthDay News, January 10, 2012

If U.S. economy strengthens, Mitt Romney’s pitch could be undercut

The Stiletto — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:02:00 GMT

PENETRATING INSIGHTS: If U.S. economy strengthens, Mitt Romney’s pitch could be undercut

- The Washington Post, February 3, 2012

LA primary school teacher accused of feeding kids semen-laced cookies

The Stiletto — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:01:00 GMT

WHAT A HEEL: Mark Berndt, a third-grade teacher for 30 years at Miramonte elementary school in LA, was charged with lewd acts involving 23 children, ages 6 to 10, between 2005 and 2010, The Associated Press reports:

A lawyer [has] filed a claim against the Los Angeles Unified School District stating that he intended to file a lawsuit on behalf of an unidentified girl who ate a sugar cookie laced with [Berndt’s] semen. …

[A]uthorities acknowledged that 18 years ago a 10-year-old girl claimed Berndt tried to fondle her.

Prosecutors declined to file to charges against Berndt in the 1993 report, saying they didn't have enough evidence. …

The incident involving the 10-year-old girl occurred in September 1993 but wasn't reported by her mother to officials at Miramonte until the following January, after her daughter had seen an "Oprah" show about inappropriate touching, sheriff's Sgt. Dan Scott said Thursday. …

Using a cheap camera, Berndt is suspected of snapping nearly 400 photographs of Miramonte students, some with a giant Madagascar cockroach from a classroom terrarium on their faces.

Others were blindfolded or had clear tape over their mouths, and some were given sperm-laced cookies to eat as treats in the photo sessions that were treated like games, Scott said. …

The latest investigation of Berndt began last fall when a film processor became suspicious about the photographs and turned them over to Redondo Beach police, who on Dec. 2 handed them over to the sheriff's department, Scott said.

Berndt, who remains in custody on $23 million bail, faces a life sentence if convicted. A few days after his arrest, a second LA teacher was arrested for inappropriate touching of students.

A current events round-up for conservatives

The Stiletto — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:01:00 GMT

THE OTHER SHOE DROPS: Turning back the tide of information overload with a digest of the latest developments in news conservatives need to pay attention to:

† What freedom of speech means to Muslims (the U.S. edition): There they go again. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) exercised prior restraint on a speech retired Lieutenant General William G. “Jerry” Boykin planned to give at a prayer breakfast at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point last week. Boykin – who is an ordained minister – has likened the War on Terror to a war against Satan and CAIR has objected to his presence at other prayer meetings as well.

Washington Times columnist Frank Gaffney notes that “CAIR and its fellow Muslim Brotherhood fronts are not simply trying to muzzle Gen. Boykin”:

They have gone after a number of other truth-tellers about the doctrine the Brothers seek to insinuate into this country - the totalitarian, supremacist politico-military-legal program the Islamists call Shariah.

For example, another colleague, former Rep. Fred Grandy, was removed from his position as one of Washington's most popular talk-radio-show hosts when he refused to allow Muslim critics to dictate who could appear on his program and what they could say.

In the fall, Stephen Coughlin, one of the nation's foremost non-Muslim experts on Shariah, similarly was subjected to a CAIR-led effort to deny his ability to speak. In that case, he was denied by the Obama administration the opportunity to provide training to CIA personnel about what impels our enemies to engage in murderous and stealthy forms of jihad, namely Shariah.

More recently, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has been subjected to a campaign of vilification by CAIR and its friends. His offense? Mr. Kelly gave an interview to the makers of a superb documentary, "The Third Jihad," and allowed that film to be used in training his officers.

CAIR's desire to suppress this film is not hard to understand. After all, "The Third Jihad" brilliantly exposes what it and other Muslim Brotherhood fronts are up to in this country. In the words of the Brotherhood's own strategic plan, that is "a kind of grand jihad ... in destroying and eliminating the Western civilization from within" by our own hands.

† Are you smarter than a fifth-grade atheist? (Obama isn’t.): Speaking to about 3,000 people at the annual National Prayer Breakfast, President Barack Hussein Obama described his understanding of the Christian faith and explained how this faulty foundation compelled him to squeeze the rich, force the middle class to buy health insurance and send troops to prevent human rights abuses in Uganda (but not in Afghanistan, Pakistan or Turkey), The Washington Post reports:

“For me, as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’s teaching that ‘for unto whom much is given, much shall be required,’ ” Obama said. “It mirrors the Islamic belief that those who’ve been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation and consideration for others.” …

Obama described his “faith journey” again in terms that coincide with the central themes of his reelection effort, drawing on biblical passages that have helped underpin his belief in what is called “the social gospel.” …

[He] laid out a simple scriptural grounding for his policies: caring for the least of these, being one’s brother’s keeper, demanding much of those to whom much has been given.

For example, Obama also said this:

“[W]hen I talk about our financial institutions playing by the same rules as folks on Main Street, when I talk about making sure insurance companies aren’t discriminating against those who are already sick, or making sure that unscrupulous lenders aren’t taking advantage of the most vulnerable among us, I do so because I genuinely believe it will make the economy stronger for everybody, but I also do it because I know that far too many neighbors in our country have been hurt and treated unfairly over the last few years, and I believe in God’s command to love thy neighbor as thyself. I know a version of that Golden rule is found in every major religion and every set of beliefs from Hinduism to Islam to Judaism to the writings of Plato.”

The Stiletto has already dealt with Obama’s misconstruing the meanings of being your brother’s “keeper” and loving thy neighbor as thyself. RedStateNews tackles Obama’s notion that a Christian’s moral and religious obligations to the poor can be fulfilled by paying higher taxes:

While Obama may have been correct in saying that government mandated, shared responsibility is equal to the Islamic belief that those who’ve been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, he is incorrect to group in Jesus’ teaching, “for unto whom much is given, much shall be required.” Aside from the fact that Jesus was discussing requirements from God, not the government, he was actually teaching his disciples that they were stewards of God’s gift of Revelation. Their requirement was to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. … Jesus very much emphasized the importance of giving to the poor, but as a reaction in joy to what we’ve been given; not because of a law. Giving out of obligation is not truly giving, it’s merely following the rules. …

The Bible also teaches that everything we have, including money, belongs to God. We are called to be good stewards with His money. The government is the epitome of mismanaging money. … So it is that welfare money ends up spitting out of strip club ATMs, and those same people who paid their charity to the government wonder why government hasn’t solved the issue. Perhaps they should ask the 27 Democrats who voted against stopping welfare checks from being used at strip clubs, casinos and liquor stores.

The “social gospel” that Obama learned from the preaching of Rev. Jeremiah Wright is not found anywhere in the New Testament.

† The accidental nominee: The confusion over whether Mitt Romney (R-MA) or Rick Santorum (R-PA) won the IA caucus, prompts The New York Times to discuss the potential for errors and fraud in caucus elections – four years too late, alas (related article, fourth item on the page):

Those in favor of the caucus format, in which party members typically attend meetings at a set time to vote, are worried that additional problems will further undermine a traditional system that has been in declining use, as more states move to the comparative convenience and reliability of a primary. …

As the Republican race continues, the Nevada caucus, in particular, will be closely watched for signs of trouble. Four years ago, both parties’ caucuses were riddled with problems before, during and after the vote. There were lawsuits, and difficulty accommodating high turnout, and after the counting was done, candidates discovered that whoever won the most votes would not necessarily get the most delegates.

This year, despite assurances that the process was improved, there were new concerns, like the decision to allow counties to set their own rules, which means that people voting in different parts of the state will have very different voting experiences. …

Four years ago, the mastery of the labyrinthine rules and procedures in often-overlooked caucus states was a critical part of President Obama’s strategy to win delegates during the bruising battle for the Democratic nomination. [Emphasis, The Stiletto.]

The difficulty Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign had in caucus states led supporters to push unsuccessfully to remove them from the nomination process, saying they limited participation and lacked protections to ensure fairness. [Emphasis, The Stiletto.]

The boldfaced bits are The Times’ euphemisms for what Hillary’s supporters described as widespread voter intimidation and fraud in caucus states that deprived their candidate of the nomination.

† Fed up with farmers: Agriculture groups and “family farmers” successfully pressured the Obama administration to weaken proposed new rules that would have sharply limited child labor on farms (related article, eighth item on the page), The Washington Times reports:

Communities across the rural heartland had attacked the rules, saying they threatened a traditional way of life and could undermine the viability of many family farming operations.

The Labor Department announced Wednesday it would "repropose" the new regulations, allowing for more public comment on whether children could engage in farm jobs, including working with livestock and equipment.

Department officials said they were seeking a balance between protecting child workers in hazardous conditions and "respecting rural traditions."

The "parental exemption" rule, which is covered by the department's Wage and Hour Division, sets the rules on which children may be allowed to work on family farms.

Contrary to the bucolic image of Farmer John teaching John Jr. how to drive a tractor or shuck corn on the family’s acreage, the ugly truth is that commercial farmers want to preserve the tradition of their illegal alien farm workers to bring their children into the fields and orchards with them.

† It’s not news if it happens to a journalist: Jan Brewer’s pointedly pointed finger at President Barack Hussein Obama led to accusations ranging from disrespect to racism, but it turns out that in 2006, NBC’s Brian Williams practically poked President Bush in the chest with his finger during an interview – and the MSM took no notice of the incident back then (related article, seventh item on the page). page). Similarly, Obama’s own finger-pointing has gone unremarked upon.

In a Washington Times op-ed, National Review Online’s Jonah Goldberg calls “the wildly overhyped confrontation” between the two politicians “a harbinger of greater inanities to come” because Obama “can't run on his record”:

Nothing excites the base of the Democratic Party more - or gets more free media - than wildly implausible hysterics over racism, even when there's so little evidence to support the claim. …

[F]or reasons that say a lot more about the weaknesses of the first black president, liberals yearn to … make this campaign into something more exciting than a referendum on Mr. Obama.

† AZ becomes the epicenter of civility: In an interview with Martin Bashir about Republicans supposedly being “disrespectful” towards President Barack Hussein Obama, Jesse Jackson said, “Demonizing the President is both morally wrong and dangerous,” adding that it will lead to “somebody shoots an AK-47 in the White House.” Never mind that the only person who shot at the White House since Obama took office is a Mexican-American fellow who hung around the Occupy D.C. encampment. (related article, seventh item on the page). Wasn’t there some sort of organization formed in AZ to restore civility to political discourse by denouncing the sort of unfounded accusations that Jackson made?

† So easy, a conservative can do it: Part III: On the heels of yet another study that links conservatism and low IQ (related article, fourth item on the page), comes this Match.com survey that finds Republicans have more satisfying sex (that is to say, they have more orgasms) than Democrats (53 percent vs.40 percent). So if Dems are so smart, how come they’re not as good in the sack as Repubs? If other pseudo-scientific studies of conservatives (whom researchers always conflate with Republicans) are to be believed, it’s because they are “dumb.” Sex is, after all, instinctual, and does not require a high IQ.

† Contraceptive fail: Another oral contraceptive manufacturer has switched the active and inert pills in the 28-day blister packs, The Wall Street Journal reports:

Drug maker Pfizer Inc. recalled about a million packs of birth-control pills that weren't packaged correctly, which raised the risk of unplanned pregnancies among women who relied on the pills.

Pulled from shelves were Lo/Ovral-28 pills and their Norgestrel generic versions …

Pfizer said Wednesday that it believes only 30 packs had packaging problems, including having the active and inert tablets out of order, or lacking the proper amount of each kind of pill. the company said it recalled a million packs in the U.S. to be safe. …

The pills were made and shipped last year by a Pfizer plant in upstate New York, on the Canadian border. To encourage proper use, active pills in the packs are colored white, while the inert tablets are pink. An alert customer noticed that her pack had a pink pill where a white one should have been, and complained to the company on Oct. 19, a Pfizer spokeswoman said.

Neither the Food and Drug Administration, nor Pfizer – which says it has fixed the problems with packaging pills and inspecting the blister packs – have received any reports of unintended pregnancies.

Prisoner filing bogus tax returns gets hefty refund check

The Stiletto — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:53:04 GMT

NOT THE SHARPEST KNIFE IN THE DRAWER: A NY jury has convicted prison inmate Ronald Williams, 48, of 11 counts of filing false claims and one count of helping another inmate file bogus returns. From 2006 to 2010, Williams filed tax returns seeking $890 million in refunds, The Associated Press reports:

He was actually issued a refund for $327,456 once but prison officials intercepted the check and returned it to the IRS, which led the investigation.

Williams was serving two to four years for possession of stolen property when he was charged in February 2011.

Williams faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each of the 12 counts.

Williams is not the only jailhouse CPA out there – nor the only one who’s gotten a refund check fro the IRS, The Post-Standard (Syracuse) reports:

In 2009, the IRS reported that there were 44,944 bogus tax filings from prisoners. The IRS has been working with federal and state prison authorities to try to make it easier to catch prisoner fraud, but a report in April by J. Russell George, the treasury secretary for tax administration, said the IRS is not doing enough.

George told Congress that the 2009 number was likely much higher because the IRS didn’t have enough command of the data to ensure it was accurate.

It’s hard to get a handle on exactly how much the IRS is losing every year to prison tax fraud, said Richard T. Ainsworth, a Boston University professor who has studied the problem.

He said that in 2009, inmates claimed more than $295 million in refunds they weren’t owed. The IRS stopped most of those from being paid, but sent out $39 million in refund checks. It’s unclear how much of that $39 million in checks was cashed and eventually lost.

Since Williams’ caper, Ainsworth said, the IRS has a new system. Computers check return addresses against prison addresses and automatically put those filings under greater scrutiny.

Check for signs of concussion

The Stiletto — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:50:33 GMT

IF THE SHOE FITS: Check for signs of concussion

- HealthDay News, January 25, 2012

Casual sex among college students means an increase in STDs

The Stiletto — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:48:49 GMT

PENETRATING INSIGHTS: Casual sex among college students means an increase in STDs

- Miami Herald via OpinionJournal, January 23, 2012

FDA whistleblowers sue agency for reading their personal e-mails

The Stiletto — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:45:48 GMT

WHAT HEELS: Six whistleblowing scientists and doctors working for the Food and Drug Administration, are suing the agency for surreptitiously monitoring personal E-mails accessed from government computers for two years after they warned Congress that least a dozen radiological devices they thought were risky were on track to to be approved, The Washington Post reports:

Information garnered this way eventually contributed to the harassment or dismissal of all six of the FDA employees, the suit alleges. All had worked in an office responsible for reviewing devices for cancer screening and other purposes.

Copies of the e-mails show that, starting in January 2009, the FDA intercepted communications with congressional staffers and draft versions of whistleblower complaints complete with editing notes in the margins. The agency also took electronic snapshots of the computer desktops of the FDA employees and reviewed documents they saved on the hard drives of their government computers. …

[T]he case sheds light on the lengths to which a federal agency will go to monitor employees. At issue, experts say, is whether the purpose of the monitoring was legal and what level of monitoring on government computers is reasonable at a time when technology increasingly blurs the lines between work and home.

“The FDA has a huge responsibility to protect public health and safety,” Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said in a statement last week. “It’s hard to see how managers apparently thought it was a good use of time to shadow agency scientists and monitor their e-mail accounts for legally protected communications with Congress.”